#5 Margaret (Meg) Whitman

As ruler of the world's biggest online auction site, Whitman, 49, has successfully beaten back stiff competition from Amazon.com and Yahoo!. To do that, she has swiftly fixed any problems, has faithfully tried to weed out the fakes on her site and has posted a consistent flow of profits, making eBay the world's most valuable Internet brand. All this is to be expected. Whitman has an impressive, blue-chip résumé, with executive stints at Hasbro, the Walt Disney Co. and Bain & Co., among others. Whitman also serves on the boards of eBay as well as DreamWorks Animation, Procter & Gamble and the Gap. Despite her stock's volatility, her personal holdings are valued at $1.6 billion, making Whitman one of the richest people on the planet.

Published sources include the women's official biographies, Factiva, International Who's Who of 2005, Marquis Who's Who, World Almanac of Famous People, Palgrave Who's Who 2005, the Congressional Yellow Book, the Judicial Yellow Book, Europa World Year Book, Hoover's Online, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, World Economic Forum, the World Book Encyclopedia. Rankings generated by combining various financial figures with other media and biography metrics; global media mentions from Factiva.